Exam 6: Cognitive Dissonance and the Need to Protect Our Self-Esteem

In a research study by Steele, he replicated Brehm's earlier study on postdecision dissonance reduction. In Steele's study, students were asked to rate albums, and were then given their fifth- or sixth-ranked album. After making their choice, they were asked to rate the albums again. The students __________ the one they rejected.

Phil spent an hour and a half running cables and toying with connections in order to receive cable TV in his room. When he was finished, he got fifty channels, but all of them were kind of fuzzy. His roommate, Jason, arrived home when Phil was done, and they both sat down to watch TV. Which one will enjoy the cable TV the most?

Your friend Jamie shows you the gift she bought for her mother's birthday. It's an atrociously ugly fake marble statue of an angel, with the saccharine words "My Mother's an Angel" sloppily lettered on the bottom. Jamie asks you what you think, and because her feelings are easily hurt, to spare her, you say, "It's wonderful! Maybe I'll get one for my mom!" In this case, you __________ experience dissonance because there is sufficient __________ justification for your action.

In a variation of the "forbidden toy" experiment by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963), another researcher issued mild and severe threats to prevent children from playing with a very attractive toy. Several weeks later, a woman came to the school, allegedly to administer tests to the children. When she left the room to score the tests, children were left alone with the same attractive toy and other less attractive toys. Almost 80 percent of the children who were issued severe threats by the researcher played with the attractive toy; only 30 percent of those children issued mild threats succumbed to temptation. This experiment is noteworthy because it demonstrated that __________.

Lisa and Marcie have a really tough exam in anthropology. Both women are considering cheating on the exam. Based on what you read about cognitive dissonance, Lisa, who __________, is likely to later report that all cheaters should be punished severely, and Marcie, who __________, is likely to report that cheating really is no big deal because there are no victims.

Participants in an experiment conducted by Davis and Jones (1960) were instructed to provide hurtful feedback to another person (actually a confederate, of course). After providing such mean assessments of his performance, participants then evaluated him privately. After providing this criticism, the participants' evaluations of the confederate were more __________ because the __________.

Which of the following pairs is most likely to show the greatest amount of dissonance?

Willow's mother took away her television privileges as punishment for missing her curfew, when the punishment could have been much more severe, such as being grounded for a week and losing access to her cell phone. Why is Willow's mother using insufficient punishment, according to dissonance theory?

__________ refers to the dissonance aroused after we have chosen between two or more alternatives.

Imagine that before a test, the professor told Jake that if he is caught cheating, he will be expelled. Imagine that the professor told Amanda that, if caught cheating, her only punishment will be to write a short paper about why cheating is wrong. If both students don't cheat, what would dissonance theory predict?

Based on research by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) in which children were threatened with either mild or severe punishment for playing with a forbidden toy, which of the following situations would make a child most want to play with a toy?

Carla has just written out a check for $18,999 to pay for her new car. Although the salesperson had initially accepted her check, she is now told that there was a mistake and that the final total should really be $19,250. Carla writes another check to cover the difference so that she can drive out with her new car. Carla has just fallen prey to a questionable sales practice called __________.

Scott believes very strongly that saccharine is an unsafe sugar substitute that may even cause cancer. Even though Scott is diabetic, and thus should be using sugar substitutes, he often opts for sugar-laden foods and drinks to avoid saccharine. "I'll just exercise more later; the sugar isn't a big deal. I'm really being healthier by avoiding saccharine," he thinks to himself. Scott's behavior and thoughts are examples of __________ in the face of cognitive dissonance.

Social psychologists had African American students do carefully constructed self-affirming writing assignments regarding their good qualities outside of school. How did this activity affect these students?

When preschoolers were forbidden to play with a very attractive toy, some received mild threats of punishment and others received severe threats of punishment should they disobey (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963). Because they had __________ justification, children in the mild-threat condition experienced __________ dissonance and changed their rating of the forbidden toy.

According to the authors of your text, after you carefully make a decision, what is likely to happen?

Jennifer's dad wants to convince her to do her homework as soon as she gets home from school. To ensure that Jennifer actually does her homework immediately-whether or not he is there to keep an eye on her-Jennifer's dad should provide __________.

Chloe debated for a long time about whether to take a psychology or a sociology course, both of which looked interesting. She finally chose the psychology course. Now, because she is experiencing __________, she raves about the psychology course to her friends.

According to research presented in the text, students shot a roll of film and printed two photographs. Some were told that they could exchange the one they chose to keep within five days, but others were told that their choice was final. Which group of students liked their photograph best?

Imagine that both Vera and Carol are against affirmative action. Vera is offered $50 to write an essay about the benefits of affirmative action, whereas Carol is offered only $1 to write a similar essay. After writing the essays and receiving their payments, both women are asked to report their attitudes toward affirmative action. Assuming that their attitudes were similarly negative at the outset, which of the following results would you expect?